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Reception baseline assessment: information for parents

Updated 2 June 2025

Do you have a child starting reception class?

If so, your child will participate in the reception baseline assessment (RBA) within the first 6 weeks of starting reception. The purpose of the assessment is to provide the starting point for a progress measure that will help parents understand how well schools support their pupils to progress between reception and year 6.

What is the RBA?

The RBA is a short, interactive and practical assessment of your child’s early literacy, communication, language and mathematics skills when they begin school.

What does participating in the RBA mean for my child?

The main purpose is to create a starting point to measure the progress schools make with their pupils. It is not about judging or labelling your child or putting them under any pressure. Your child cannot ‘pass’ or ‘fail’ the assessment.

The RBA gives your child valuable one to one time with their teacher at an early stage, helping them to understand your child better. It provides a helpful snapshot of your child’s skills and abilities when they enter reception, allowing teachers to support your child in the most appropriate way.

How will the RBA benefit me as a parent?

When your child reaches year 6, the end of key stage 2, you will be able to see how well the school has supported your child’s year group during their time at primary school, compared to other schools nationally. The progress of individual pupils will not be reported.

How do I prepare my child for the assessment?

You do not need to do anything to prepare your child for the assessment. Your child is unlikely to even know that they are taking part in an assessment when they are completing the tasks.

What if my child cannot access the assessment?

Your child will complete the assessment by:

• using a touchscreen device
• answering questions verbally with the teacher
• working with materials given to them by the school

The assessment has been designed to be inclusive and accessible for as many children as possible. This includes those with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND).

To support your child’s assessment, teachers can:

• pause the assessment at any time if your child needs a break
• make adaptations based on your child’s needs
• follow guidance to support children with specific needs, including those with visual and hearing impairments
• choose the most appropriate format based on your child’s needs

There may be some circumstances in which it will not be appropriate for a pupil to take the assessment. If you have any concerns about your child accessing the assessment, you should discuss this with your child’s school.

How will the data be used?

The Department for Education uses the assessment data when your child has reached the end of year 6, as a baseline to measure the progress of your child’s year group from reception to year 6. The data from the assessment, including numerical scores, is not shared with you, pupils, teachers, schools or other external bodies. There will also be no published scores at pupil, school or national level.

You can find more information about the personal data we collect, process and store for the RBA in our privacy notice.  

Will I receive feedback on my child’s assessment?

Your child’s teacher will receive a set of statements, which provide a narrative description of how your child performed in the assessment. Schools can choose whether to share these with parents as standard, but they must provide them to you on your request.

For more information

Your child’s teacher will be able to answer any questions about the RBA.

For more details, you can also visit www.gov.uk/STA.

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